Stow-on-the-Wold: Historic Market Town Celebrates Its Rich Cotswold Heritage

Are you ready to explore the second Cotswold village that my daughter and I visited during our trip to England? Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town filled with quaint shops and charming cottages. It doesn’t have the same winding, hilly streets as Bibury but it’s still loaded with charm and history.

 

In case you’re wondering, a wold is an elevated piece of land in the country and is commonly used in Britain. Stow-in-the Wold has the highest elevation of the Cotswold villages at 800 feet. It was once the site of an Iron Age fort.

 

Walking through the blocks in town, you feel the historic vibe of the place and can appreciate the old architecture of the homes and shops.

 

In addition to the main road lined with shopfronts, there’s what I would call a town square with a parking lot in the middle. Stores like this are seen one after the other. We didn’t do a lot of shopping here. It felt like the most touristy of the villages we visited. But we did get some shopping done at the next town I’ll show (it happens to be my favorite from the day).

 

The store exteriors were all so quaint and attractive. Do you see the whale painting in the second story window? I would’ve loved to buy it but had to be careful about carrying things home. I don’t think it would’ve fit in my suitcase.

 

 

Here’s a view of The Porch House, the oldest inn and pub in England. The wooden beams in the building were carbon dated to find its age. It’s believed to have been built in 947 AD by the Duke of Cornwall. There’s a video on the home page of its website that takes you for a tour through the inside – it’s worth watching.

 

If I go back to England, I’ll spend the entire time in the Cotswold area – and perhaps Bath and Bristol. I’d stay two nights in each village exploring the surrounding area. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll stay here at the Bluebell Cottage. I think it’d be fun to visit at Christmas. Kind of like the movie “Holiday.”

 

Since most of the buildings are stone, one of the only ways to add color to a home is by painting the front door or adding flowers out front. Note the little oval window at the top. I wonder what room of the house that is?

 

Look carefully and you’ll see Park Cottage etched in stone.

 

Another old door – I could’ve taken hundreds of photos of painted old doors during our visit to Stow-on-the-Wold.

 

Here’s a few more row cottages found at Stow-on-the-Wold.

 

 

 

We found a few walled alleys like this one that connect one street to the next.

 

When we came out of the alley, we were greeted by this charming English home.

 

Did you enjoy today’s tour of Stow-on-the-Wold? I’ve got one more Cotswold village to share with you. I might share my photos of London and Windsor on the blog, too. I just don’t want to wear you out with pictures of England!